AN OCCUPATION BY ANY OTHER NAME: IRAQ 11 YEARS LATER

author: Visibility Action on Wednesday, March 19

March 19 will mark eleven years since the devastating U.S. invasion of Iraq. A visibility action will remind people that the United States still has a large presence in Iraq despite the 2011 "withdrawal." The "Tower of Peace" will remind motorists, cyclists and pedestrians heading in three directions about the ongoing effects of U.S. policies on Iraq.

Wednesday, March 19
AN OCCUPATION BY ANY OTHER NAME: IRAQ 11 YEARS LATER
Visibility Action
East End of Burnside Bridge
(N.E. Couch and Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard)
3:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. (Drop in for as long as you are able, according to your availability.)

Trimet Bus lines: 6, 12, 19 or 20 or Central Loop Streetcar

The United States continues to operate the world's largest embassy in Baghdad, with thousands of diplomats, "contractors" and military personnel. In December, the United States sold rockets and drones to Iraq ostensibly to fight spillover from the Syrian conflict. The United States similarly supported the regime of Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq War and then began "Gulf War Part I" in 1991, in part because of Iraq's formidable military capability that they claimed needed to be obliterated. Meanwhile, basic necessities like food, water, medicine and electricity are still not universally available to Iraqis 23 years since the imposition of sanctions and internal fighting that did not exist prior to the 2003 invasion kills hundreds each month.

Event coordinated by Peace and Justice Works - Iraq Affinity Group.
Co-sponsors include: War Resisters League - Portland; Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility; Americans United for Palestinian Human Rights; Women's International League for Peace and Freedom - Portland; Peace Action Group of First Unitarian Church; 18th Avenue Peace House; American Friends Service Committee; Veterans for Peace, Chapter 72; Recruiter Watch PDX and others.

For more information, please contact Peace and Justice Works - Iraq Affinity Group at
(503) 236-3065
or
iraq@pjw.info